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I had the best sandwich of my life there and I am sad for the rest of humanity who is not within traveling distance to experience the joy that is Melt Bar & Grilled.

Seriously, you have no idea.

Melt is a local prized possession but you out of towners really must experience it in all it’s glory.

But this really doesn’t capture it. It’s really something you have to experience yourself because:
1) This ain’t no ordinary grilled cheese sandwich. My Melt tonight was the October special: Mom’s Meatloaf Melt: Homemade Meatloaf, Chipotle Ketchup Glaze, Garlic Mashed Potatoes &; Muenster cheese. It was bliss on bread. I could go on and on and on about this sandwich for days. My husband’s Melt: The Municipal Stadium, had bratwurst, vodka kraut, grilled peppers and American cheese.
2) The atmosphere – it’s cheesy, but in a tongue in cheek sort of way. There is tons of cheesy Halloween, Easter, Christmas, Valentine’s light up decor, Cleveland and rock n roll memorabilia everywhere. The menus are old record covers. Half the restaurant is taken up by the bar and counterseats.
3) The staff – is excellent! Every waiter/waitress we have ever had there has been EXTREMELY knowledgable about the menu and very extensive beer menu (and bottled soda/root beer). Most, if not all of them, remind me of the laid back, fun staff at your local live music shows – tattoos, piercings and alls – but they all have brains and personalities which I really dig!
Be warned – the only problem is the wait for a place to sit and eat your delicious sandwich BUT it is worth it. From a local, the best time to go is right between lunch and dinner rush, obviously. However, if you are there during the madness, put your name on the list, hang at the bar, grab an appetizer and DO wait. (You can also get takeout, but why miss out on all the fun)

So … if you are ever in Cleveland, please be sure to check out Melt. I highly recommend it. There is one on the West (Original) & East Side and a rumored South coming soon!

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This was partly because of the job market – there wasn’t a whole lot of prospects. It was also because I was being picky. I figured it I was on unemployment and I had to apply for two jobs every week, they might as well be jobs that I REALLY, really wanted. When you have kids and a mortgage and bills, there aren’t too many times in life when you still have money coming in and can hold out. I was trying to hold. Then I crumbled and I applied for jobs with the firms I don’t really want to work for but will pay the bills…you know the ones…the creditor rights firms, i.e. bank/credit card/foreclosure lawyers…probably because they are the only ones getting paid too. UGH. But… I am just ready to pull myself up by bootstraps or rather…go wherever God wants me to be, even if thats someplace I’m not comfortable.

It went crazy from there. My phone blew up. I had phone interviews. Actual interviews that turned into two hour long, four attorney panel interviews when I was just supposed to go in and meet with an HR manager and take a typing test. I still wasn’t thrilled but I was at least encouraged that I had sparked interest.

Then today, out of the blue my phone rings and its a head hunter. Turns out I had thrown my resume out there and a recruiter who has a contract for a government administration saw it and was really interested in my background with administrative law. She called me from a (703) number, which I instantly recognized as my old stomping ground – Metro DC – so we hit it off and talked for over an hour. She asked me to complete some other paperwork and get it back to her ASAP so she can set me for an interview because she thinks I’m well qualified for this position and they need someone, like yesterday.

I’m sweating a little because it’s way downtown … that’s gonna be a commute – more of a work/life balance issue, but a government job, even a contract one I’m thinking has to be better job security than what I’ve dealt with the past few years and probably a pay increase.

All of this aside though, if I had to hand pick a job – this would be exactly the kind of position I would want. It’s a little eerie.

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I’ve become rather taken back with the world within which we live lately…mostly the people in it.

It is very rare that you find anybody who takes a moment to think outside of themselves, much less take accountability for their actions. Oh no, most everyone is certainly willing to take credit when it will serve their purposes, and everybody seems to have this sense of entitlement, the likes of which I’ve never seen, but when it comes to taking accountability it is everybody else…anybody else’s fault but their own.

Without focusing on the specific person or situation that has led me to my current funk…so that I don’t become totally consumed with anger….and because examples of what I am speaking about are so abundantly available in today’s society and I’m pretty sure anyone can grasp the gist of what I’m speaking about in their own lives, maybe by even taking a look in the mirror…I’m just going to move on to where I need to be.

This kind of thing always reminds me of the story in the Bible when the disciples are going to meet Jesus and they start to argue about who amongst them is the greatest.

Can’t you just picture it?

When they finally get to Jesus and he asks them what has happened – they are too embarrassed to tell him. I guess I would be too.

Jesus says to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

For whatever reason, this story, this verse, has stayed with me since I was a child. It is my eternal compass. I need it now more than ever.

I could do what others have done. I could be selfish. I could have it easy and I might also be as empty. I could look around and ask “Why me?”…”When will the score get evened?”…”Haven’t I sacrificed enough?”…”Shouldn’t I have this/that?”…”Don’t I deserve this/that?”…”I deserve more”…”I deserve better”

But, I think back on this story and I think this was the Son of God, a man of power for all intent and purposes. There was a point when he really could have had everyone bowing down at his feet and eating out of his hands, bringing sacrifices of whatever he wanted, gold, women, bribes…he was a rock star for that era, but, he had no throne. He practiced what he preached, he was a servant of man, a prophet of hope, who died on a cross, with a crown of thorns on his head.

From that prospective, I have everything I need, much to be grateful for and much more to give. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it hundred times more. You might think this is crazy, but I would rather be unemployed, bankrupt and foreclosed on with nothing but my family by my side, knowing that I helping my kids become better people, helping my parents as they get older, helping people in our community, with the schools, at our church, than to be like the self-serving, unconscious people I see roaming around everywhere.